2016 Toyota Prius camouflaged test car, Southern California, Jun 2015 [photo by CarsDirect]

2016 Toyota Prius camouflaged test car, Southern California, Jun 2015 [photo by CarsDirect]

The fourth-generation Toyota Prius is fast approaching.

Toyota Motor Corporation has confirmed to Bloomberg that the fully redesigned 2016 Toyota Prius will be shown in Las Vegas on September 8, 2015—ahead of its anticipated debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show later next month.

The last time the Prius was fully revamped was in 2009, for the 2010 model year. That gives the current model, which worldwide has been the highest-selling of all the Prius generations, a six-year model run.

Some reports have anticipated that the Prius will make a significant 15-percent improvement in gas mileage; although Toyota has since characterized that boost as being too high. It’s also expected that the Prius will take a step in a sportier direction, as the outgoing generation of the Prius has been criticized for being as appliance-like as ever.

There’s also a new version of the Prius Plug-In Hybrid in the works—expected this time to have an improved range that's closer to 30 or 35 miles of range rather than the current car’s paltry 11 miles.

The Prius will be the first production model to be built on a new platform that will underpin, in various forms, nearly every front-drive-based model from the Yaris to the Avalon.

In its current generation, the Prius has become a family, with the original Prius Liftback joined by Prius V tall-hatchback wagons and smaller Prius C hatchbacks. It’s presumed that redesigns of those models will follow.

All three models have been heavily incentivized in recent months, possibly to keep sales of the outgoing model moving as the shoppers and green-car enthusiasts wait for details on the Gen-4 Prius.

Now those details are just weeks away.

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